This application claims the priority of German application 196 30 645.0 filed Jul. 30, 1996, the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated by reference herein.
The invention relates to a center tunnel for a vehicle, especially a motor vehicle, that has a shape that is open at the bottom.
German Patent 24 08 548 C2 teaches a center tunnel for a motor vehicle made in one piece with a floor panel, with two shaped closing panels being mounted to stiffen the center tunnel at its interior, said panels forming hollow supporting structures extending locally lengthwise together with the center tunnel.
A center tunnel of this kind requires considerable tool and assembly costs. In addition, the center tunnel is reinforced only in partial areas while it is relatively weak in the transition area to the adjoining floor part.
An object of the invention is to improve on a center tunnel in such fashion that it can accept high forces with a simple design and economical manufacture.
According to the invention, this object is achieved by the providing an arrangement wherein the center tunnel, viewed in cross section, is formed by a double-walled hollow body produced by the internal high-pressure shaping method, with spaced wall sections of the hollow body being brought together areawise.
Primary advantages achieved by the invention consist in the fact that the center tunnel, made by internal high-pressure shaping, has a simple structure and can be manufactured economically. The hollow body that forms the center tunnel, open downward and having double walls, has a high level of torsional stiffness and can accept high forces, since it is composed of a plurality of hollow chambers. For this purpose, locally abutting wall sections of the hollow body are joined together mechanically by internal high-pressure shaping and are additionally connected is permanently with one another (for example by riveting).
The joining process is accomplished for example by mechanical compression of the inside wall or outside wall of the hollow body. In addition, supporting areas for adjoining body parts are formed externally on the center tunnel.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.